Thursday, 31 July 2014

Based on a play by Russian writer Ivan Turgenev. Set in the Russian countryside at the end of the 19th century, drama turns on the wife of a rich landowner who falls in love with her son’s tutor.

Vera Glagoleva Interview:-Why did you choose “A Month in the Country”?

— Out of a desire to show the audience in addition to the omnipresent action film format a story can be old in beautiful way, with a beautiful language. Turgenev’s language is endlessly beautiful. That’s how the play is written! The heroes experience such feelings! The most interesting thing for any actor and director is figuring out what needs to be acted out, rehearsals, and Turgenev provides enormous opportunities: delving into his work, you can open new horizons. So that is why I chose Turgenev, “A Month in Country”, and probably also playing a role here was Anatoly Efros’s production in 1977 (at the Malaya Bronnaya Theater in Moscow – ed.). That production was a major event in the theatrical world. In part because there had not yet been any film version of this work. But there were many stage productions. Strangely enough, most were in Europe, as Ivan Turgenev himself was a man of Europe. In France, England and Germany his works are always being performed. The role of Natalya Petrovna is an event of biographical importance for every actress.

— Were foreign actors brought into the film as a nod to the cosmopolitanism of the writer?

— Yes, the German tutor is played by a German (Bernd Moss – ed.), as in the 19th century it was customary to hire tutors from Europe. Natalya’s companion is a Frenchwoman. Actress Sylvie Testud beautifully reads Voltaire in French. It is quit logical. Rakitin is played by the British actor Ralph Fiennes, because in terms of his internal world, chivalry and attitude toward life his is absolutely a man of the 19th century, and this choice was now coincidence. It seemed to me that Rakitin was just this type of person.

— Today it is popular to change the text of the author. How did you approach the original text?

— We worked on the text. In 1909 Stanislavsky, when he was putting on this play, ruthlessly cut it down and believed that he was right to do so. We took some of the theatrics out of the text. In the play there are a lot of internal monologues which are spoken from the stage in order to show the audience the hero’s feelings. But this is not necessary for film.

— In our television series based on great literature, such as Sergey Soloviev’s “Anna Karenina”, one can see fake vases and other artificiality. You shot the picture using real film. Were you focused on accurately portraying the spirit of the time?

— It would be unethical to comment on Soloviev. There are quality television series, such as Vladimir Khtinenko’s “Dostoevsky”. But by and large everything seems rather templated. We really strived to transmit the spirit of the time and selected Glinka’s estate as the location. It is very pretty there. The museum management and department of culture of the Smolensk region were very accommodating and we received a lot of help.
— How do you feel about the most recent films made based on Russian classics? Take for example Joe Wright’s “Anna Karenina” with Keira Knightley in the lead role.

— If we watched this film and it wasn’t called Anna Karenina and did not have any connection to the great novel, then I would say that it is a wonderful, interesting film with a large number of novelties from the director. It is a good entertaining film, surprising film. Everything is beautiful and shallow. You don’t worry about the heroine, you don’t pity anyone.

— Should classical literature not be made more modern?

— Why not, if you do it as talentedly as Baz Luhrmann’s “Romeo + Juliet” with DiCaprio playing the main role. It is grandiose and amazing because it is a modern story and young people and for young people. Another example is Ralph Fiennes’ “Coriolanus”. This is also Shakespeare but in a modern presentation. There are relatively few successes – when classical literature placed in the present – because there is an obvious difference between what the heroes experienced then and now.

— Are you completely occupied with your film or do you already have plans for the future?

— I am not even thinking about it. Right now the most important thing is to complete it. The editing and sound. The post production will be rather complicated. As far as further plans are concerned, I would again like to take a look at the classics. Chekhov is fathomless. We’ll see.

The Mosfilm studio plans to release the restored historical biopic Ivan the Terrible in August, 2014.The classical Russian cinema masterpiece directed by Sergei Eisenstein has been digitalized in high definition, the Kultura TV channel reports. The renovated film will go on general release on its 70th anniversary.Ivan the Terrible was the last work by the legendary Sergei Eisenstein. Its first series was released in January, 1945 and gained the Stalin Award for the film director. However, the Soviet authorities did not accept the second part of the historical film, and so the general public got access to it not before 1958.The image of Tsar Ivan IV as created by Sergey Eisenstein became nearly axiomatic in Russian cinema, whereas the technique of sharp contrast play of light and shade turned classical.RIC

Tuesday, 8 July 2014

Leviathan directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev has won the main prize of the 32nd annual Munich Film Festival.
The film by the Russian film director Andrey Zvyagintsev and producers Alexander Rodnyansky and Sergey Melkumov takes the ARRI/OSRAM Award. “The attention paid by large-scale international festivals to the Russian movie is very significant to us. Zvyagintsev is a unique artist, and each and every film by him is a big day. This modern story with brilliant cast can touch both up-country viewers and fine connoisseurs of the cinematic language. Me and Sergey Melkumov as producers hope that participation of Leviathan in international film festivals will promote its long life and successful distribution”, - the film producer Alexander Rodnyansky commented on the jury’s decision. Read more >>